HSBC 2009 Annual Report Download - page 320

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Report of the Directors: Governance (continued)
Employees > Involvement / Disabled / Remuneration policy / Share plans
318
Employees
At 31 December 2009, HSBC employed 302,000 full
and part-time employees worldwide, compared with
325,000 at 31 December 2008 and 330,000 at
31 December 2007. The main centres of employment
are the UK with approximately 53,000 employees;
the US 29,000, India 35,000, Hong Kong 28,000,
Brazil 24,000, Mexico 19,000, mainland China
14,000 and France 11,000. HSBC negotiates with
recognised unions. The five highest concentrations
of union membership are in Argentina, Brazil,
mainland China, Malta and Mexico. It is HSBC’s
policy to maintain well-developed communications
and consultation programmes with unions and there
have been no material disruptions to its operations
from labour disputes during the past five years.
The Group People Strategy was introduced in
2008. This set a number of priorities: strengthening
leadership capabilities and developing people skills
in general, robust performance management
complementing a reward strategy which is market
competitive, and improving employee engagement.
Continuing emphasis was given in 2009 to
increasing international mobility to broaden the
internationalism and diversity of employee
experience. Training was focused on risk awareness,
change management, customer orientation and
performance management. Employee engagement
continued to improve significantly in the year (see
non-financial KPIs on page 20).
HSBC remains committed to creating a diverse
and inclusive work environment reflective of its
customer base, international workforce, and the
communities in which it operates. It has a Group-
wide strategy to build an inclusive culture. Focus
is placed on improving gender, ethnicity and age
diversity to ensure the long term sustainability of the
organisation, taking into account global demographic
changes. Diversity initiatives are implemented at a
regional, country and global business level and local
and national laws are respected. Employee network
groups, flexible working and mentoring programmes
are promoted and established, where possible, to
facilitate open discussion of workplace issues for
employees and to foster an environment that
celebrates diversity and inclusion.
Employee involvement
HSBC values and encourages open communication
with employees. Employees have the opportunity to
share views via learning programmes, networking
events and management blogs, and to enrich their
experience and perspectives through international
and cross-business assignments. Employment
matters and the financial and economic factors
affecting HSBC’s performance are regularly shared
with employees via management channels, internal
seminars, and in-house communication channels
such as the company intranet, which is accessible to
the majority of HSBC’s employees worldwide. The
Group’s annual Global People Survey gives
employees the opportunity to provide systematic
feedback on their experience of HSBC, and survey
results are followed through and acted upon.
Employment of disabled persons
HSBC believes in providing equal opportunities to
all employees. The employment of disabled persons
is included in this commitment and the recruitment,
training, career development and promotion of
disabled persons is based on the aptitudes and
abilities of the individual. Should employees become
disabled while employed by the Group, efforts are
made to continue their employment and, if
necessary, appropriate training is provided.
Remuneration policy
As the quality and commitment of its human capital
is deemed fundamental to HSBC’s success, the
Board’s stated strategy is to attract, retain and
motivate the very best people; this strategy is
referenced to the overall business strategy and the
commercial environment.
In a business that is based on trust and
relationships, HSBC’s broad policy is to recruit
those who are committed to making a long-term
career with the organisation since trust and
relationships are built over time.
Remuneration is an important component in an
individual’s decision about which organisation to
join and to stay with but, in HSBC’s experience, it is
not the overriding one. HSBC seeks to attract people
who wish to work for an organisation with strong
and sound values, one which is meritocratic and
competitive, and which offers challenging career
development.
In line with the overall principles applied to
executive Directors by the Remuneration Committee
described on page 334 in the Directors’
Remuneration Report:
• employees’ salaries are reviewed annually in the
context of business performance, market
practice and internal relativities. Allowances and
benefits are largely determined by local market
practice;
• employees participate in various variable pay
arrangements. Discretionary variable pay is